American Mothers, Inc.

Macy and I flew to Utah on April 28th to be with Dorothy and so I could attend the National Mothers Convention. It was a great trip, but almost didn't happen.

We were supposed to fly on April 27th. We get to the airport and no one could find my reservation. Apparently it didn't get booked properly. After talking to the Delta representatives for an hour we came to the conclusion that we would take a flight the next day since it was getting late in the night. I was very hesitant to go because Macy had a runny nose and hadn't been feeling well. It almost came as a relief that I wouldn't have to travel with her. I decided to go to Utah and I was so glad I did. We had a layover on the flight over and it turned out great. Our layover was in Detroit so it was only an hour flight. Macy is pretty good for the first hour of flight so this worked out well. Our  second half of the flight was even better. We sat in front of two little kids, one Macy's age and a four year old girl. They all entertained each other and had a great time. I couldn't have asked for anything better.

The only bad thing was I didn't have any chapstick and my lips got really chapped. I'll explain this more in another post. Oh, and I also forgot Macy's shoes in Virginia. People probably thought I was a terrible mom for letting my daughter walk around the dirty airport and airplane without shoes. My friend Chelsey was nice enough to go and buy us some shoes so Macy could walk in Utah.

As soon as we got to Utah we met up with Chelsey and her son Truman. Here the kiddies are sitting at the Gateway like old buddies. Getting both of them to look at the camera was just too much to ask. They are still cute though!

That night we drove up to "This is the place" Heritage Park for dinner. Macy and I missed out on the festivities because she was having so much fun walking around the front lawn. Unfortunately within the first few minutes of being there Macy tripped and scraped her forehead pretty good. She got over the pain in about 30 seconds.


Now the rest of the weekend was mostly spent Macy free. Since Dorothy used to live in Utah she knew some people to ask to babysit Macy so I could attend the conference. The babysitter, Hannah, came to the hotel (The Little America) and watched Macy in the morning, fed her lunch, put her down for a nap, took her to her house in Salt Lake, fed her dinner, and put her to bed. For two days in a row! It was so nice! Macy did great and slept like a champ. Hannah enjoyed Macy and said she missed her after she left.

I loved being at American Mother's convention and listening to all the great talks about being a mother and motherhood. Everyone is a mother there so we all know what it's like. It was also fun because any time I did have Macy they all loved her and thought she was so cute. It's refreshing to be with such a large group of women that all believe in the importance of being a mother and spending time with your children. So many people I talk so ask what I do and when I tell them I stay at home with Macy they say,  "Oh." And that's the end of the conversation. My life may seem boring so them, but it's rewarding and harder than going to work!

Elaine Dalton, the General Young Women's President, was there because her daughter was the Utah Mother of the Year. I was able to get a picture with this "celebrity."

Chelsey was able to come on Saturday for the lunch and two workshops. John Bytheway spoke during lunch and was so funny! He is great with his love of The Andy Griffith Show and his Barney impersonation.

Matt Townsend spoke during a workshop. He is a "relationship and communication expert." All I know was that he was hilarious! Everyone in the room was laughing hysterically and crying. He had great stories, and I think we learned something too.

The next workshop we went to was Hilary Weeks. She is an LDS singer and sang some of her songs for us. She also explained how she came to wrote them. Her song "If I Only Had Today" had everyone in the room crying. It was really sweet and made me thing of Macy. Chelsey, Dorothy, and I got pictures with Hilary.

Sunday morning we were able to attend Music and The Spoken Word in the Tabernacle. I was able to sit in the fifth row and Dorothy took Macy in the observation room in the back of the Tabernacle. Dorothy said she was amazed at how still Macy was sitting when she realized she was asleep! Macy never would have fallen asleep for me! Granny Dot has the magic touch. Macy then slept through the whole broadcast so there was no interruptions by her :)

Walking around Temple Square

Sunday afternoon we went to church at Dorothy's old ward in Holladay. It was a little embarrassing because of my before mentioned lip problem, but it was fun to meet people. Macy and I were really tired and since I would have spent the next two hours in the halls we decided to take a nap in the car. It was the best.

We spent the rest of Sunday taking our time, eating dinner, and visiting.

We flew out Monday morning. This time we had a non-stop back to Virginia but it was only 3 hours 23 minutes. Much more doable than the 5 hour plan ride to California. Macy did pretty well and we made some friends who even moved their seats so they could sit by us (despite the scariness of my lip). Macy had only minimal crying. We had a great flight and a great weekend!